Automotive News Canada - July 2019 - 14

* JULY 2019

Honda Canada CEO Dave Gardner does
not want governments "interfering" in the
marketplace with rebates. And Jaguar Land
Rover Canada President Wolfgang Hoffmann
thinks its unfair that the new federal iZEV
program excludes vehicles above $55,000.
I L L U S T R AT I O N : I S T O C K P H O T O S
AND AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

Execs on EV incentives:

E-NOUGH
Leaders of Jaguar and
Honda pan government
programs for distorting
demand and changing at
the whim of an election

[Conservative] government cancelled
Ontario's rebate program," Gardner
said. "Demand for the Clarity and
other PHEVs and EVs dried up immediately."
And in June in British Columbia,
EV subsidies were slashed to a maximum of $3,000 for battery and fuel-cell
EVs from $6,000. B.C. also capped the
By CHARLES JOLICOEUR
price ceiling for eligible vehicles at
and PERRY LEFKO
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA
$55,000.
"Therein lies the problem with governments' interfering in the consumer
marketplace," Gardner said. "We see
TWO AUTO-INDUSTRY
distortions of consumer demand, prodexecutives are speaking out against
uct competitiveness undermined and
Ottawa's $300-million iZEV program,
unsustainable behaviour created. For
calling the incentives for electric vehithese reasons, we are opposed to any
cles unfair and unsustainable.
types of rebate programs
Wolfgang Hoffmann,
which determine winners
president of Jaguar Land
and losers in the marketRover Canada, said incenplace."
tives should be expanded
To be eligible for fedto cover all electric vehieral rebates of up to
cles, regardless of price.
$5,000, a vehicle must
"It is a disadvantage
have a base-model sticker
if you're not eligible,"
price of less than $45,000
Hoffmann said. "I'm more
for passenger vehicles
of the opinion that if you
with six or fewer seats,
have incentives [make
and less than $55,000 for
it] for all battery electric
vehicles with seven or
zero-emission vehicles.
more seats.
But that's a decision that
Simon Rivet, a spokesthe government made,
man for Transport
and you have to live with
Honda Canada CEO
Canada, which adminisit."
Dave Gardner thinks that
ters iZEV, said the proAt Honda Canada,
instead of incentives to
gram is aimed at midCEO Dave Gardner said
sell a handful of hybrids
dle-income earners. It
that while the new proand EVs, the federal
gram will help generate
government would better does so "by prioritizing
incentives for the purinterest for the Clarity
address pollution by
and other eligible electri- encouraging consumers chases of affordable
ZEVs by middle-class
fied vehicles, the incento replace older
Canadians," he said.
tives are an unsustainvehicles with new, more
"There are currentable solution for a greenfuel-efficient ones.
ly over 24 [eligible]
er automotive landscape. P H O T O : H O N D A C A N A D A
models representing
POLICIES CAN CHANGE
almost three-quarters of 2018 ZEV
sales."
Such programs distort the marketplace and are vulnerable to changes in
CHARGING STATIONS NEEDED
government policy, Gardner said.
Although Ottawa also has commit"We saw the impact that these types
ted $130 million in the 2019 federal budof rebates can have when the new

get for EV infrastructure, Hoffmann is
concerned it will be insufficient to handle the rise in sales resulting from the
rebates.
"From a pure and consumer standpoint and also for the environment
going forward and adoption rate, we
need more of the infrastructure than
incentives, I believe," he said. "Some
municipalities are moving forward
in a much faster pace [because] all
new condominiums have to have electric charging stations for each parking spot, but I think also [more] public
charging stations [are needed]."
Hoffmann cited Highway 401 north
of downtown Toronto as an example of
a high-traffic thoroughfare with insufficient charging stations.
"We're still seeing customers that
are a little worried about range, even
if our I-Pace has a range of approximately 370 kilometres," he said. "There
is still that [worry] in the back of the
heads of consumers, so take that away
and make it very convenient.
"At the end of the day, the experience for the consumer is not much different, be it an internal-combustion
engine or a battery electric vehicle.
That's why I think the government
should focus on the infrastructure and
help consumers with charging stations."
Transport Canada's Rivet countered
that automakers can do more to support infrastructure and cited Tesla's
Supercharger and Volkswagen's
Electrify Canada networks as
examples.
"Recognizing that everyone has a
role to play in supporting the decarbonization of the transportation sector, we look forward to seeing what
more automakers can do to support
infrastructure deployment."

TARGETING GAS GUZZLERS
Gardner said governments should
dispense with incentives altogether
and instead encourage consumers to
replace aging gas guzzlers with newer,
more

Wolfgang Hoffmann of Jaguar Land
Rover Canada believes all electric
vehicles, regardless of price,
should be eligible for incentives,
and that consumers would be
better served if governments focus
on adding charging infrastructure.
PHOTO: JAGUAR LAND ROVER CANADA

fuel-efficient vehicles.
"From a much broader perspective,
we believe that the path to environmental sustainability involves reducing the emissions of the total fleet of
light-duty vehicles on the road ... as
opposed to selling a small number of
PHEV [plug-in hybrid electric vehicles]
and EVs annually," he said.
"Therefore, we disagree with the
policy direction of governments,
whether with rebates or by establishing minimum sales mandates for
PHEV and EV models, of picking specific technologies in the fight to reduce
greenhouse-gas [GHG] emissions.
There are other tactics that should be
employed to achieve the GHG reduction goal in addition to rebating PHEV
and EV models and mandating their
sales." - ANC
- With files from Toronto correspondent Stephanie Wallcraft

Jaguar's I-Pace is an EV, but with
a sticker price of $89,800, it's too
expensive to qualify for federal
incentives. Jaguar calls this unfair,
while the federal government
says its rebates are aimed
at middle-income earners.
PHOTO: JAGUAR
LAND ROVER CANADA

Automotive News Canada - July 2019

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